Iâm already seeing male reactors get very verbally defensive about that scene in She-Hulk where Jennifer describes how, simply as a woman, she has more experience in suppressing rage than Banner because speaking out will get you labelled âhystericalâ, âemotionalâ, âdifficultâ, âtoo much of a feministâ, the list goes on. And if you snap back at the wrong cat-caller, you can get murdered. So now mcu bros are rushing at the opportunity to cry out âthis is just another âmarvel throwing in another woke scene for wokeâs sakeâ. But likeâŚit isnât untrue. Comic nerds are all for female superhero protagonists until she, god forbids, talks about the dynamics of what itâs like to live within the confines of patriarchy.
MCU fans are always clamoring for the social commentary to be more âsubtleâ and not so âin-your-faceâ, just so they can mindlessly enjoy a punchy fighty show and not have to confront any real-world intersections with racism, misogyny, xenophobia, transphobia, all the -isms and -phobias you can imagine. Additionally, even when the social criticisms are embedded into the story, the conflicts are routinely either overlooked or watered-down and discussed at the individual-level as if these are just isolated incidents and not reflective of larger phenomena. Dudebros forget that superhero comic media, from the very beginning, has always been political. A lot of the mainstream characters we know and love today were created in response to the anti-war and peace movements during the seventies in the United States (this is also not to say that there isnât some definite war propaganda and Red Scare-inspired comics out there either).
Comics are teaching grounds for morality, human good, and bad, power, greed, corruption. Comics have been about the social commentary from the get-go. The idea that the government (and by extent society at large) is villainizing and surveilling a specific minority group who carry varying physical and genetic traits contrasting to that of the âideal national subjectâ because of a perceived inherent aggression or difference based on their physical attributes *ahem ahem mutants*âŚwhere do you think they got that from?
I literally sat through a dude being like âIN MY EXPERIENCE AS A MAN, THAT IS NEVER THE CASE! IF A WOMAN GETS UPSET AND MAKES A SCENE IN PUBLIC, THE MAN ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THE BAD GUY BECAUSE IT IS ASSUMED HE DID SOMETHING WRONG. MEN ARE THE ONES WHO CAN NEVER BE ANGRY.â (Obviously for Black men, my argument is different because when Black men express rage, they are viewed as a threat or turned into spectacle, but the person who made this rant was not a Black man, nor was he factoring race into his argument). As if masculinity and gratuitous violence have not become nearly synonymous. When male celebrities are accused of beating their partners, fans run to their defense to say âwell she shouldnât have provoked him.â When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, the internet rooted for a televised boxing match between the actors/comedians. We all watched the Trump and Hillary debates right, where his belligerent behavior was coddled while she had to maintain composure?
Weâve collectively grown up watching male newscasters, talk show hosts, and reporters make jokes about angry women in sports, in the media or in news reports being on their periods, as a way to minimize the stressful and abusive circumstances, or people, women are subjected to. The world expects women to react to harassment with class and elegance; womenâs anger, Black women especially, is never not mitigated. For male fans to come away from that scene wanting to eye roll is why the commentary is so âin-your-faceâ because a lot of yâall still donât get it! Men are still finding ways to make womenâs issues about them and the âlossâ of their rights. In a world where Brock Turners are able to walk free, are you really trying to argue against this scene? Really? What else do you expect out of a series whose main character is AN ATTORNEY? Yâall are just not going to enjoy this series then, as per usual.
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